Qifa Nabki
Miscellaneous
Qifa Nabki Turns Three, Plus a New Blog on Egypt
This blog began life three years ago with a “conspiracy chronicles” post that seems awfully relevant today. Four hundred posts later (we aim for concision) and with over 22,000 comments (our readers aim for prolixity), things remain interesting, so perhaps I won’t make good on my threat to shut it all down and retire to … Continue reading
Slim Gaillard and his Mysterious Stuffed Grape Leaves
Joshua Landis sent me a 1945 recording of the famous American jazz musician, Slim Gaillard, singing a tune entitled “Yep-Roc Heresay”, the lyrics of which are almost entirely in Arabic. Take a listen below and see if you can make out what he’s saying. That’s right, he’s singing about food: yabra (i.e. stuffed graped leaves), … Continue reading
Middle East International Re-Launches
The fortnightly Middle East International has just been re-launched, under the stewardship of some very able editors and advisors. Some of you may recall the highly-regarded magazine during its first run from the early 1970’s up until 2005. Well, it’s back, and I have to say that it looks very good. The first issue is … Continue reading
Back to the Mines
Well, I’m heading back to Cambridge tomorrow, after a wonderful year away. There will be spotty internet access for the next few days as we move into our new place, and shortly thereafter I’ll be back in the regular grind of dissertation research, conference papers, grant applications, and teaching. What this means is that blogging … Continue reading
Amuk in AfPak
So apparently there was an entirely inconsequential election in Afghanistan yesterday. Helena Cobban’s got a roundup of the story, and Registan has been great all week. My only contribution to the coverage is a plea for abbreviational evenhandedness. As long as people are too lazy to say or write “Afghanistan and Pakistan,” lumping them together … Continue reading
Qifa Nabki 
And the people say…